Le Pen, leftist Mélenchon eye June legislative polls to counter Macron

Jean-Luc Mélenchon (L) and Marine Le Pen (R), the top runners-up in the French presidential vote, are highlighting June legislative elections as a chance to block Emmanuel Macron’s agenda and advance their own campaign promises. © Jeremias Gonzalez and Francois Mori, AP

Within hours of polls closing in the second round of the French presidential election, the runners-up set their sights on the “third round”: legislative elections in June, which will decide how much of President Emmanuel Macron’s agenda he is able to pass. Far-right Marine Le Pen and veteran leftist Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who finished third in the first round of voting, both hope to mobilise voters to form a strong parliamentary opposition to the freshly re-elected president.

With a 17-point lead over his far-right rival, Macron secured a decisive victory against Le Pen in Sunday’s presidential run-off, dashing her hopes of an upset win as he did in 2017. But Le Pen made major gains, cutting Macron’s margin nearly in half compared to five years ago, when he defeated her 66 points to 34.